Formula One: On and off track - week 11

Champions' reunion at Bahrain, FIA Stewards, McLaren's diffuser, Andretti and
Lotus
Champions' reunion at Bahrain
This year Formula One celebrates its 60th birthday, and the Bahrain
International Circuit had invited all living Formula One ...

This year Formula One celebrates its 60th birthday, and the Bahrain
International Circuit had invited all living Formula One champions for a
reunion. There are still 20 living champions, and all except Kimi Raikkonen
and Nelson Piquet were present at this once-in-a-lifetime event. A truly
unique assembly of gentleman racers, who represent a part of the Formula
One legacy, and they visibly enjoyed their stay in Bahrain. Those champions
are also part of the reason why Formula One still is so immensely popular
today, the names of John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham, Emerson
Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Mario Andretti and all the other
champions are still in the hearts and minds of all Formula One fans.

Cars representing 60 years of Grand Prix racing were at display as well,
and when possible, the cars on the circuit were driven by the original
world champion. Sir Jackie Stewart was reunited with his 1973 Tyrrell 006,
Mario Andretti with his 1978 Lotus 79, Emerson Fittipaldi drove his 1972
Lotus 72D, Jody Scheckter his 1979 Ferrari 312T4, Keke Rosberg his 1982
Williams FW08 and Damon Hill his 1996 Williams-Renault FW18. And Joshua
Hill, son of Damon Hill, drove the 1968 Lotus 49B in which his grandfather
Graham Hill scored his second and last championship title.

Jody Scheckter said about his outing in his 1979 Ferrari (he owns the car and
normally parks it in a barn on his farm in South Africa): "I've only driven
the car twice in the past ten years, once for a Nelson Mandela charity
event and once for Ferrari's 60th anniversary. It's really good to see so
many of these guys here at one time. I came to the race here in Bahrain two
years ago, it's really impressive and the facilities are state-of-the-art.
I'm glad to come back and enjoy the occasion."

If you are interested in more pictures of this unique event, a link to
Motorsport's photo pages of the 60th Anniversary of the F1 World
Championship can be found below.

The reunion was also a good opportunity for the FIA to see whether some of
those champions were prepared to take part in the FIA F1 Stewards panel. In
an effort to improve the consistency and credibility of the rule-enforcing
process, which has been heavily criticized during the last few years, the
FIA decided to appoint an experienced former Formula One driver to join the
three permanent stewards of the panel, the new panel will be present during
all Formula One races this year. Each driver will join the panel for two
races, and they have full voting power. Last weekend at Bahrain, four-time
world champion Frenchman Alain Prost assisted the FIA stewards.

In the past the FIA Stewards panel had three FIA stewards and one steward
representing the national sporting authority of the hosting country, and a
non-voting chairman. This year there will be no non-voting chairman, and
instead each group of stewards will elect their own chairman amongst
themselves for every Grand Prix. FIA President Jean Todt expects Prost and
other drivers will make a strong contribution to the Stewards panel. They
will be representing the drivers. Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, Alexander
Wurz and Heinz-Harald Frentzen have also agreed to take part in the
Stewarts panel.

Nigel Mansell told the BBC he had a chat with the FIA, but hasn't made a
decision yet. Mansell about the changes: "I think it is a marvelous idea
what they [FIA] are doing, because if there is a coming together they [the
fourth steward] can give their input. Obviously, then the other stewards
can interpret the rules and deem what the final penalty will be but I just
think it's very smart to give it more credibility. Past World Champions are
in a position to do that, and all credit to the FIA and everybody thinking
about it."

The FIA ruled in Bahrain that Mclaren's updated rear diffuser is illegal.
McLaren has used the hole for the external engine starter as a sort of
extra diffuser by making the hole much larger than it needs to be. It seems
the FIA doesn't want another diffuser controversy like in 2009, and because
they suspect other teams will soon follow McLaren, the FIA has announced
they will make the necessary changes to the regulations and specify the
maximum opening for the external starter. The FIA has given McLaren no
options at all, the diffuser has to be changed before the race in
Melbourne.

Even Bernie Ecclestone couldn't resist the temptation and took a closer look at the McLaren.

Photo by xpb.cc.

The inlet system McLaren has introduced, which didn't really help them to
gain more straight-line speed at Bahrain, was approved by the FIA, but the
last word hasn't been said about it. The clever but controversial air inlet
system, which is located on the top of the nose in front of the cockpit,
allows air to travel through the inlet towards the rear wing.

Renault's managing director Bob Bell: "It's fundamentally clear that the
McLaren inlet and wing design is totally illegal. I think that it's
ridiculous in this era, when we are all trying to save money. Now we have
just opened up another arms race which will cost us all a lot of money,
it's just a nonsense. I think the governing body needs to be more
responsible when making decisions like this." Lotus' technical director
Mike Gascoyne is also not happy with the decision, but was a bit more
diplomatic when asked about the McLaren air inlet: "Everyone is going to do
it, no one will have an advantage, we will go and spend loads of money --
and for what?"

Mario Andretti and Lotus

Lotus has asked 70-year old former Formula One world champion Mario
Andretti to play a role in the present Malaysian Lotus team. What his role
exactly will be is not clear yet. Andretti was impressed with the progress
the new Lotus team has made: "Mike Gascoyne has done a phenomenal job to
bring it [the team] here and this is for real. In the first few races, they
obviously won't be on the pace, but I think, by mid-season, you will
probably see quite a surprising improvement there, where the team will be a
force to be reckoned with." the 1978 Italian-American champion added.

Andretti is convinced the late Colin Chapman, the legendary owner and
designer of the original Lotus team, would have been proud of the Malaysian
Lotus team. Finland's Heikki Kovalainen and Italian Jarno Trulli ended on
fifteenth and seventeenth place last weekend, while other newcomers Virgin
Racing and HRT F1 had to retire from the race. And with that achievement,
the Malaysian Lotus team has brought a little piece of the Formula One
heritage back to present day Grand Prix racing.

Join us again next week for the weekly "Formula One: On and off track".